The final work from Leonard Cohen, Canada's most celebrated poet and an artist whose audience spans generations and whose work is known and loved throughout the world.
The Flame is a stunning collection of Leonard Cohen's last poems, selected and ordered by the author in the final months of his life. Featuring lyrics, prose pieces, and illustrations, the book also contains an extensive selection from Cohen's notebooks, which he kept in poetic form throughout his life, and offers an unprecedentedly intimate look inside the life and mind of a singular artist and thinker.
An enormously powerful final chapter in Cohen's storied literary career, The Flame showcases the full range of Leonard Cohen's lyricism, from the exquisitely transcendent to the darkly funny. By turns devastatingly sad and winningly strange, these are the works of a poet and lyricist who set out to explore our darkest questions and came back wanting, yearning for more.
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"Incredible insight into the mind of an incredible man. Being able to experience the artistic process of both an idol and an absolute force of nature feels like a privilege. His poems, musings, and doodles speak are as insightful as they are moving (and sometimes amusing)."
— J. I. (5/5)
One of Canada's Greatest.
"As with all of Cohen's work, this collection is as entertaining as it is moving."
— Tyler (5/5)
It says everything to grab the book
"Mr Cohen wrote so many poems, songs, and his personal memoirs. All of them are beautifully crafted and special to everyone. Book has messages of his life and dreams, life. Very good written book."
— Elizabeth (5/5)
A must read for poetry lovers.
"If you’re a poetry lover, I think this book is a must. This is such a beautifully written book."
— Lg (5/5)
Genuine Leonard
"I have not finished the book but I do like it. It is nice to get near to Leonard Cohen by following his thoughts and trying to understand better who he was. Am glad to have bought it and to continue with the reading he seemed genuine."
— Displeased R. (4/5)
Cohen Fans
"I bought this as a gift for a family member who is a huge fan!"
— MClare (5/5)
Not for me
"This book caught my interest as I was looking for hardcover books that would work as decor and that would interest me- I didn't want to buy a book I wouldn't be interested in reading. While I did enjoy some of the poems in this book, I found myself skimming over several pages. I think most of that had to do with the fact that I just didn't understand most of it. It just wasn't for me, but at least it looks nice on my shelf."
— Jasmine (3/5)
The Flame
"I loved it, each poem worded so beautifully. . the art. . amazing. I wish there was more too it"
— Grace (5/5)
Poems. By Leonard Cohen what more can be said
"A great book of poems by Leonard Cohen, very much is in line with his music and other things that he’s created"
— Kara (5/5)
Love
"Beautiful book. Very worth the read. If you aren’t familiar with Leonard cohen you’re missing out"
— Lisa (5/5)
Q&A
Published date: Dec 05, 2021
Language: English
No. of Pages: 288
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 9780771024412
Dimensions:
6.3" W x
1.0" L x
9.3" H
“[The Flame] is . . . a kaleidoscopic archive, a mix-tape of emotions that reveals Cohen’s fears and vulnerability with an unusually raw candour. After 10 books of poetry and two novels, it reminds us that the music man who taught the world to scale the chords of Hallelujah still considered writing his first and ultimate vocation.” —Maclean’s
“Leonard Cohen does not use language to pose, startle or to reinvent. Words are his old comrades, and see him through to the end.” —The Guardian
“The Flame is Leonard Cohen’s parting gift to the world. And like the best gifts, it’s thoughtful, nicely packaged and contains an element of surprise.” —Ottawa Citizen
“In the pages of The Flame, Leonard Cohen feels more present than ever.” —Gazette (Montreal)
“A posthumous balm . . . All of Cohen’s work has a raw, straight-to-the-heart intensity―reach for this the next time you need inspiration for a wedding toast that will leave them gutted, or any other moment you need a little sustenance for the soul.”—Vogue
“Cohen’s final volume shows his poetic soul. If you know the man only because of ‘Hallelujah’ or ‘Suzanne,’ pick up The Flame and warm yourself within its pages.”—Washington Post
“A kind of farewell tribute by the poet-prophet [and] offers ample evidence of his abiding sense of humor . . . Though he claimed not to know the origins of his poetry nor to be able to locate his mission, what Cohen offered his many fans and followers was the opportunity to partake of the kind of spiritual experience that makes it possible for us to feel, if only for a moment, that we are not alone.”―Los Angeles Review of Books
“In The Flame, an aging artist struggles with questions of death and legacy―and tries not to take them too seriously, true to his claim never to do so . . . If [this is] how long it takes to say ‘so long’ to someone beautiful, we’ll be listening to Cohen―still smirking and smiling―for decades to come, with this collection as our companion.”—Spectator
“Poignant and brave, lit up with flashes of anger, this is a luminous collection and classic Cohen.”―Booklist (starred review)
“Cohen was a poet before he was a musician, and with this posthumous collection his career completes its circle.”—Financial Times (Best Books of 2018)
LEONARD COHEN's artistic career began in 1956 with the publication of his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies. He published two novels, The Favourite Game and Beautiful Losers, and ten previous books of poetry, including Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs and Book of Longing. During a recording career that spanned almost fifty years, he released fourteen studio albums, the last of which, You Want It Darker, was released in 2016. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, and was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature and the Glenn Gould Prize in 2011. He died on November 7, 2016.
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